


Day Two Hundred Nineteen || Genius

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [219]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-12 00:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20162620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: With so many powerful, intelligent people around her...little Hinata can't help but feel a bit left behind.





	Day Two Hundred Nineteen || Genius

Why is it she’s surrounded by geniuses?

Sure, one of them...isn’t exactly her best friend. Hinata knows why Neji hates her. All she can do is hope that when she gets older, she’ll have a chance to change things for him. For all of the branch Hyūga clan. But, for now...she’s powerless. Stripped of her title and abandoned to her genin team by her father, having been deemed a failure. She can no more help Neji than she can help herself.

...she’ll never bear the title of genius, she tells herself. She’s just the quiet little nobody dragging her new team down. Naruto will never benefit from her few and far between talents. All she wants is to be recognized by him...but what can she do?

And then, there’s the third member of their new triad. Uchiha Sasuke, another proclaimed genius. Quiet, almost aloof...and hyper focused on his own goals.

Their team feels so...disjointed. Naruto and Sasuke are almost always arguing, and Hinata’s quiet, soft attempts to try to bring peace are almost always ignored. Their first training session with Kakashi was...disastrous. Naruto went in with no sense of planning or teamwork, and almost immediately was put out of commission by Kakashi. Sasuke, though highly skilled, also went at it alone, using Naruto’s antics as a distraction. And Hinata’s attempts to free Naruto landed her in a one-on-one with Kakashi, her feeble attempts at Jūken holding up for a few seconds before she, too, was incapacitated.

Overall...it wasn’t pretty. And yet, after realizing what they were missing, he allowed them to pass...if only by the skin of their teeth.

And now, they’ve been buried in D-rank missions to their ears. Hinata’s prior hinting that maybe more actual training than just slaving away on assignments might help has finally been taken seriously. Their entire week has been nothing but hours spent at the training grounds, trying to find some semblance of strategy to work together.

So far...there hasn’t been much progress.

Sasuke’s attempts to make himself the unspoken team leader have gotten Naruto all in a tizzy, insisting that _he_ should lead. The constant arguing has made them sloppy, too busy correcting each other and nitpicking to spend time actually running through drills.

As yet another fight breaks out, Hinata sighs, shoulders wilting as she stands beside Kakashi. He, too, looks rather unimpressed. “Boys,” he then cuts in, drawing their looks as they each grasp one another’s shirt fronts. “I think you’re forgetting something.”

“...what?”

“Neither of you are team leader. _That_ title would fall to me. As it stands...neither of you are anywhere near qualified to lead a squad. Hence you being little genin, and not chūnin.”

Both then stiffen and puff up, vying their case for being second in command.

“I don’t think so. You’re both far too busy giving each other a hard time to even pay your task any attention. If anything...Hinata is the most qualified for me to turn to.”

...that shuts them up.

Jolting in surprise, she stutters, “M...me? B-but I -?”

“Have a level head, listen when the squad leader speaks, and do your best to follow through the drills. The only reason you ever stop is because _these two_ keep getting in your way. I can’t even judge your abilities yet because you’ve had no time to show them off. There might be a genius just under the surface, but these knuckleheads keep wasting time.”

Kakashi folds his arms, giving the boys a pointed look. “If it were just you two putting yourselves out, I’d just leave you to it. But you seem to be forgetting something very important: _this team isn’t just about you_. You have to form a cohesive unit. Your arguing is bad enough between the two of you...but you’re dragging Hinata down. _Both_ of you.”

Eyes wide, Hinata just...stares. She’s...never had anyone speak about her like that before. _She_ has always been the burden. The slow one. The person inhibiting the progress of others. Hearing Kakashi praise her - even so indirectly - brings a small flutter to her chest.

At their sensei’s chiding, Sasuke and Naruto give each other cool, appraising looks. While it’s clear they haven’t exactly resolved things between them...they seem to take Kakashi’s words to heart. “...so what are we supposed to do?” Sasuke asks. “How can we just _magically_ get along?”

“Well, I was hoping some missions would help with that. Give you all the same goal, and see how you worked to meet it. But even then you were too busy nagging each other to really get the work done as well as you could have.” Kakashi rubs his chin thoughtfully. “...I think we need to go over our strengths and weaknesses. A good team has a balance. Where one person might be lacking, another steps up to cover it.”

His arms fold. “Sasuke, you have a good eye for detail, and a mind for strategizing...decent techniques and power. But you’re also too absorbed in yourself to pay attention to the movements and needs of your teammates. Hinata’s mindfulness might help you learn to keep tabs on the rest of your squad. Naruto, you’ve got decent power...but you don’t think ahead. You need to slow down and examine your surroundings first. You might not like it, but you need to listen when Sasuke comes up with a strategy. His strength will help cover your weakness. And Hinata.”

“Y...yes?”

“You have the greatest powers of observation. Even if your Byakugan is still in its beginning stages with distance, you can see what your team can’t. You’re their eyes. You can tell Sasuke what you see, so he can plan, and Naruto can help execute. But you’re not putting your best foot forward. You’re hesitating. You take a step back when you _should _take a step forward.”

At that, the little Hyūga flinches. That’s...exactly what her father always chided her for. Being indecisive. Lacking conviction. Initiative.

...but his constant beratement only made her less sure of herself. Less apt to take risks, or be assertive.

Eyeing her carefully as the boys do the same, Kakashi suggests, “...in order to help cover you...Naruto and Sasuke need to do something for you.”

“We do?” Naruto blurts, earning a sock in the shoulder by his rival.

“You two...need to work on Hinata’s confidence.”

“...how do we do that?” Sasuke asks, a brow perked.

“Encouragement. Help. Advice. Hinata’s skittish for a reason. Reach out! Find the reason behind it! And start to counteract it.”

Confusion crosses both boys’ faces. Across from them, Hinata wilts. “T...that’s not -?”

“You haven’t been given a chance to show your true potential,” Kakashi cuts in, waving a hand. “I think...you’ve been so concerned about measuring up to someone else, you haven’t done so with yourself, hm?”

...she doesn’t have a rebuke for that.

“...all right. I’m going to go bring my precious little students some lunch,” Kakashi then announces. “While I’m gone...why don’t you three discuss what we learned today, hm?”

None of them answer as he disappears. For once...all three are quiet, mulling things over.

Naruto folds his arms, seated on the ground and pursing his lips. “...guess I do kinda rush into things, huh?”

“Yeah, you do,” Sasuke agrees, earning a glower. “...and...I try to take the reins too much. I guess...I just feel like I have ideas we should use.”

“But you don’t, um...communicate them to us,” Hinata offers softly. “You always g-go at things alone.”

“Well...Naruto ruins things with his rushing, and you…” He gestures vaguely. “Every time I turn around, you’re flinching.”

“S...sorry.”

“See? That’s what I mean. Don’t apologize for it, Hinata.”

“Don’t mind him, he’s just a jerk,” Naruto offers behind a hand, getting socked again. “Ow! Hey!”

“I’m trying to be serious! Look...you don’t have to be so timid, Hinata. We’re not gonna yell at you if you do something wrong. Mistakes in training aren’t fatal. You just have to try again until you get it right.”

Her head ducks. “...I...g-guess you’re right. I just, um…” She glances aside. “...that’s not...how we do things at - a-at home. It’s very...strict.”

“Well...this isn’t the Hyūga compound. If you need help with something, just ask us. Or Kakashi. The point of training is to work on what you need to improve. Why would we try to make it harder for you? If we’re gonna be a team...then we have to work together. That means in training, too.”

Sparing a glance up, Hinata dares to meet Sasuke’s eyes. Unlike her father’s, there’s no disappointment in them. No malice. Just a hint of exasperation as she hesitates. “O...okay.”

“Besides, you’ve got some really cool abilities, Hinata-chan!” Naruto pipes up with a grin. “The way your eyes can see through stuff! And behind you! Even Sasuke can’t do that!”

A hint of a cool pout overcomes Sasuke’s face, but he doesn’t comment.

“And that taijutsu stuff you were doing with Kakashi-sensei - with the chakra? That was so cool! Does it really make somebody unable to use chakra?”

“Um...y-yes, for a little while. That’s the Jūken style of the Hyūga clan.”

“If you get better at that, imagine what that’d mean! You’d just have to hit ‘em like ‘blam blam blam’! And then they’d be at your mercy! How badass is that?!”

Color floods her cheeks. “I...I-I still need more p-practice, though…”

“Well, that’s what we’re here to do,” Sasuke offers. A grin curls his lips. “I’d like to spar with the Jūken sometime. My taijutsu needs a little work...and that way there’d be more risk for me to work on my blocking and dodging.”

“Me too, me too!” Naruto insists. “I wanna see it!”

“Having a Hyūga on our team should be pretty useful. Even beyond the Jūken, like Kakashi said...your eyes might be almost as good as mine,” Sasuke offers with a hint of a grin as he lightly teases her.

“You never even use the Sharingan!” Naruto cuts in squinting.

“Not yet. I haven’t needed to,” the Uchiha evades.

“All right, all right...I think that’s enough talking for now.”

The trio turn to see their sensei behind them, holding out three bento boxes. “Sensei!”

“Sounds to me like you made some good progress...so consider these your reward. I’ll give you the rest of the day to think on it...then we’ll see how things go tomorrow, hm?”

“O...okay.”

Rather than leave, the three just sit and open their lunches. “Hey, hey! Hinata-chan, can I trade you some fish for my vegetables?”

“I know you don’t like them, b-but you really should eat them Naruto-kun,” she chides in reply. Looking to Sasuke, she then offers, “Sasuke-kun, do you want my tomatoes?”

He blinks. “...how’d you know I like tomatoes?”

“Cuz Hinata-chan pays attention! Duh! And I thought you were a genius, teme - maybe Hinata’s smarter than you!”

Smiling softly, she adds, “L-like you said, maybe my eyes are as good as yours, ne?”

Still looking surprised, Sasuke hesitates a moment. “...yeah, sure. Here, you can have my plum jelly...I don’t like sweet stuff.”

“O-okay!”

...maybe they’ll get this whole ‘teamwork’ thing figured out.

**Author's Note:**

> More team seven!Hinata. I'm really starting to like this AU, as cliche as it is lol - though trying to figure out how to get things to fully mesh is a little difficult...hence them talking it out this time!
> 
> In all honesty, team seven in canon doesn't really seem to have much, uh...balance? Just three mostly physical attackers. Team eight, by comparison, has a lot more...variety. They're all trackers, sure...but you've got Kiba with medium range attacking, Shino with recon and subversive attacking, and Hinata with her Byakugan and close-up taijutsu for chakra blocking. I dunno. Team seven just seems very weighted to me, but then again I'm very poor at writing combat so maybe I have no room to talk xD So envisioning how to have these three work as a unit is a little tough too, tbh.
> 
> Aaanyway...it's super late so I better go - thanks for reading!


End file.
